Rui watched her sister head off to her meeting with the duke. The flowers in her hair lowered sadly.

Annabelle reached up and put a comforting hand on the giant girl’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I am sure Melody will catch up quickly.”

Rui put on a brave face. “I’m sure.”

“So, where do you want to go first?” Violet asked, playing along with Rui.

“Um…” Rui was unsure of what to do. She had heard so many stories from Melody that she didn’t know where to begin. “What would you suggest?”

Violet giggled. “Are you hungry?”

Rui thought about it for a moment and felt that she wasn’t hungry enough yet. “I am thirsty.”

“Then let’s go to Sarah’s spice shop. You will love the tea she serves.” Annabelle offered.

Oh! Melody said her tea was the best! Rui thought happily.

As they moved through the city, many people became curious about Rui, and some stared at her. It made her feel a bit uncomfortable, but Violet and Annabelle glared at the worst ones, getting them to quickly stop.

“Wow! So pretty!” “Who is she? Is she related to Lady Melody?” “Perhaps she is the daughter of one of the other giants?” “But I heard there were no males.” “She looks like Lady Melody though… do you think she is…” “No! Not my goddess! Who is the luc- I mean evil bastard!?”

“Um…” Rui looked to Violet.

“What is it?” Violet asked.

“Is my sister that popular?” She asked.

Annabelle giggled. “More than you can imagine. She is well known throughout much of the empire.”

“Though I think most people think she is just a really tall human. It was funny when we went to that one city. Seeing their expressions was priceless!” Violet laughed.

“How far was that?” Rui asked.

“Hmm, wasn’t it a little over a week out?” Annabelle asked.

“It was. But we were moving in a supply caravan. If we were riding Aroo, we could have cut it down to a few days.” Violet answered.

“Oh.” Rui looked up to see a sign that looked like leaves in a jar. “Oh! Is that it!?”

Annabelle and Violet laughed as Rui jogged ahead of them.

Rui stood before the door, a little too excited, and forgot to open it.

Annabelle giggled. “Why don’t you do the honors?”

Rui looked back to Annabelle and Violet. “Can I?”

The two smiled warmly while nodding.

Grinning, Rui reached forward, opened the door, and entered the shop.

A small bell above the door rang as Rui stepped inside.

“Oh? A new face! And a cutie at that.” A sweet voice called from the counter in the back. “Who might you be?”

Rui felt nervous. “Um, I’m Rui.”

The woman’s face brightened. “Aha! It’s you! You’re finally here!” The woman rushed from behind to greet Rui. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Rui! I’m Sarah, the owner of this humble spice shop.”

“Oh! You’re Miss Sarah!? Melody has told me about you!” Rui replied, excited to meet someone from Melody’s stories.

“So, what brings you here today? On an errand? Or perhaps here to enjoy some tea?” Sarah warmly smiled.

“What a beauty…” A man came out from the back and was stunned after seeing Rui.

Sarah spun on her heels and glared at the man. “Chip. If you so much as try anything with Melody’s little sister, I will castrate you.”

Blood drained from Chip’s face. “That’s Melody’s sister? The one who is a year old?”

“The same.” Sarah narrowed her eyes at him.

Chip immediately bowed his head. “I am so sorry! I didn’t know! I-I-I thought she was a big woman! Not a giant child!”

Sarah hummed happily that her husband at least had some sense. She turned back to the slightly confused Rui. “Now! How about some nice tea?”

Sarah had a table set up toward the front of her shop where she could treat her guests. Rui, Annabelle, and Violet sat at the table.

The shop owner walked up with a tea pot, pouring four cups for them, Sarah joined them.

Rui picked up the cup and went to take a sip.

“Oh, wait deary.” Sarah stopped her. “How do you like your drinks?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Rui placed the cup down.

“How sweet do you like your drinks?” Sarah asked.

“Um, I do like sweet things.” Rui answered.

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“Okay. Try a sip for now to see how you like it. If it is not sweet enough, I have some milk and honey.”

Rui nodded and took a sip. The tea had a full and fragrant flavor. She placed the cup down. “This is really tasty. Could I get a little honey, please?” Rui asked.

Sarah smiled brightly. “How well mannered! Of course, cutie. You can have as much honey as you want.” The shop owner slid a jar toward Rui.

Rui added honey to her tea little by little until it was perfect. She took a satisfied sip of the tea, sighing contently.

“What tea is this? I am unfamiliar with it.” Violet commented.

“Oh, it is a rare tea from the Hailstom kingdom overseas. The tea leaves are from a tree that only grows over there.” Sarah answered.

“Is this hard to get then?” Annabelle asked.

Sarah nodded. “Yes. It can only be grown over there. Many have tried to grow it, only to fail…”

Rui noticed Sarah’s sad expression and could feel the woman’s longing through nature. “Um.”

The woman turned to Rui with a warm smile.

“I could probably grow it.” Rui stated shyly.

“You could?” Sarah was surprised.

“Um, I would have to get permission from Melody, but I probably could grow it in the Grove.” Rui answered.

Violet contemplated the idea for a moment. “We might want to wait on that. Let me talk to my mother first. I don’t want us to ruin that kingdom’s economy if that is a major source of income.”

“I can answer that for you!” Sarah cheerily said. “The kingdom, honestly, over charges for this tea by almost ten times. It is so common over there that even their commonfolk can easily get a hold of it. They just charge astronomical amounts for exports.”

“Oh, if that is the case, it should be fine to start our own business here.” Violet smiled.

“We still need to get Melody’s permission…” Annabelle added, trying to make sure they didn’t get ahead of themselves.

“Come on! Melody would be on board!” Violet confidently stated.

“I hope Melody comes soon!” Rui grinned happily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Melody dropped Lady Cambel off at the entrance of the Cambel family business. She promised to bring Rui around if they had time.

“Remember! Mother and Father really want to meet Rui!” Lady Cambel hollered after Melody.

“I will!” Melody smiled and headed off into the city.

“Its Melody! Hi Melody!” Some children greeted her.

“Hello! Sorry, I’m in a hurry today!” Melody apologized and continued toward the location she felt Rui was at.

Melody slowed as she felt Rui’s emotions through nature. She warmly smiled at how happy Rui was feeling. Perhaps she was being too overprotective….

As she continued through the city, she thought about maybe beginning Rui’s combat training. Though her sister was a little over a year old, physically she was already a seven-year-old with a considerable knowledge base.

Rui already knew a lot about the Grove, plants, animals, and even demons. She was sure Rui would be quick to pick up on fighting the style of Gaia if nurtured properly. Melody wanted her sister to stay safe, but she also needed to be strong in her own right. Melody survived on her own in many situations. She would have to get Rui ready.

Melody stopped between Sarah’s shop and the guild. She could feel that Rui was inside the guild hall.

“Melody?” Sarah stepped out of her shop.

Melody smiled warmly. “Hello, Sarah. How are you?”

Sarah gave her a big grin. “I am overjoyed! I met Rui! She is so adorable!”

Melody’s smile brightened. “She is, isn’t she!” She crouched down. “Did she enjoy your tea?”

The woman giggled. “We might be trying a business venture.”

Melody raised an eyebrow. “Rui’s starting a business?”

“Well, working with us. There is difficult to procure tea leaf from an overseas kingdom that we want to grow. They have plenty over there and are just greedy, overcharging exports. Rui offered to grow the trees in the Grove, with your permission, of course.”

Melody felt happy over her sister branching out. “I will see what I can do. I know we have an area she can use. Do you have saplings?”

Sarah shook her head. “I don’t. But surprisingly, Rui turned a dried leaf into one! Nature magic is truly amazing!”

Melody could not stop smiling.

“I assume you are looking for your cutie of a sister?” Sarah asked.

Melody nodded. “I know she is in the guild right now. I will head over.”

“Alrighty! Have fun!” Sarah waved as she returned to her shop.

Melody headed toward the back of the guild. She couldn’t wait to show her sister more of the city.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After enjoying their time at Sarah’s shop, Violet led their group over to the Adventurers’ Guild that was across the street. Rui felt a bit overwhelmed with all the feelings she was picking up as they entered the building.

“Huh? Who’s this lovely… Wait, that is a giant child.” A handsome man commented as he eyed Rui.

“Down, Nicolas. This is Melody’s little sister, Rui.” Violet stated.

“WHAT!?” Many of the people in the building shouted, causing Rui to flinch and hide behind Annabelle and Violet.

“Rui!” A burly dwarf charged up to them, followed by a lovely looking elf.

Rui’s expression brightened at the familiar faces. “Gona! Ellen!” She came out of hiding and hugged the two.

“Ye finally made it! I’m surprised Melody let you out of the Grove! Bwahahahah!” Gona heartily laughed.

“You should have seen the battle it took for Rui to get permission.” Violet commented.

“Was it bad?” Ellen asked.

Annabelle shook her head. “No. Just a sisterly argument.”

“Really, Anna?” Violet gave the priestess a disappointed side glance.

“So, you joining up?” Gona asked Rui with a big grin.

“Um, I don’t think Melody would let me…” Rui felt sad. She was strong, but Melody was too protective.

“Well, all in good time.” Ellen smiled.

A woman with short brown hair leaned out from the service desk to see what was happening. “Huh!? Could that be!?”

Everyone watched as the woman hopped over the desk and approached. After fixing her uniform she introduced herself. “Hello, I am Samantha Gale. Are you Melody’s sister, Rui?”

Rui’s expression brightened. It was Sammy! “Yes!” She cheerily exclaimed.

Sammy warmly smiled. “It is so nice to meet you! You are just as adorable as your sister described!” She hugged Rui.

“I am? Melody talked about me here too?” Rui asked, happily accepting the hug from Sammy.

“She has! Every time she stops by here, she is gushing about you.” Sammy commented.

“Really?! Mmm…” Rui was feeling a little embarrassed.

“Oh yes! She told us about how you quickly learned to walk. Then it was when you pranked her with honey on her toilet seat, she was so embarrassed over that! Oh, there was also the first time you took your wood golem form and caused all kinds of havoc in the Grove. Ah! I think her favorite was that your first word was sister! She honestly loves you so much that…” Sammy paused in her tirade.

Rui was too engrossed in Sammy to have noticed that everyone’s expressions had changed.

Sammy began to sweat with a now tense smile on her face. “She’s behind me… isn’t she…”

Violet and Annabelle nodded.

Sammy turned to see a smiling Melody crouched down behind herself. “Hello… Melody…”

“Nice to see you, Samantha.” Melody replied, her eyes having a dark light.

“Melody!” Rui rushed over and hugged her sister.

“Did you have fun, Rui?” Melody sweetly asked.

“I did! I got to meet Sarah and try her tea! Oh! Could I get a spot in the Grove to grow some tea trees? Sarah let me try a rare tea that was tasty! I got a few leaves and restored them so I can grow them! Please! Can I grow them! Violet said we could start a new business with these!” Rui rambled.

Melody lovingly cupped Rui’s cheek. “We can check when we get back. I am sure there is much more of the city you wish to explore, right?”

Rui’s smile got bigger. “Yes!”

“Since you have already met Sarah and visited the guild, how about we go check out Violet’s family ranch?” Melody offered while standing.

“Yeah! I want to meet the rats and the blood falcons!” Rui was bouncing as she followed her sister out the back.

Sammy and the adventurers were standing still, nervous as to what kind of punishment Melody might dish out.

“You get what you deserve.” Annabelle commented as she headed toward the door.

“She won’t include me too, will she?” Violet asked.

“Probably not. Most of that was Sammy.” Ellen commented as she followed.

“I think we should avoid the guild for a week…” Gona commented, not far behind.

Sammy was left by herself as the adventurers quickly moved to get jobs that paid enough to avoid the guild for a bit.

“I’m screwed…” Sammy cried.